Cartel Gunmen on Jet Skis Open Fire on Cancun Tourist Beach

Two cartel gunmen on jet skis opened fire on a mobile food vendor on a crowded beach in Cancun. The attack caused panicked tourists including children to flee and take cover.

This incident occurred behind the Hotel Riu in Cancun’s tourist zone, popular with international and local tourists on April 19. According to local media reports and Breitbart Texas’ law enforcement sources, the two gunmen approached the beach on jet skis and opened fire on a mobile food vendor. The vendor managed to flee without injuries. The gunfire caused immediate panic forcing beachgoers to flee from the beach. Officials reported no injuries and the gunmen managed to evade capture.

According to local media, state, municipal and tourist police all responded to the scene and located several shell casings at the beach—the investigation will continue.

According to Trip Advisor, the Hotel Riu is listed as a 4-star resort, and the Hotel Riu Cancun website indicates the following

Hotel Riu is all Inclusive 24 hours, situated in the heart of one of Cancun’s most popular areas for tourists, in a prime location on a white sandy beach with turquoise water.

Breitbart Texas reported extensively on the ongoing cartel violence that continues to plague the once peaceful beach resort of Cancun. During a recent 24-hour period earlier this month, nine homicides were registered. Officials reported 14 killings during a 36-hour span between April 4 and April 5, 2018.

As of April 20th, the month of April has surpassed the previous record for being the most deadly in the history of Cancun. Officials report 42 homicides in 20 days. This exceeds the previous record (38) for the whole month of January 2018 according to government records. Since the beginning of this year, Mexican law enforcement reports 139 recorded homicides in Cancun, putting it on pace to smash the previous record for a year set in 2017 with 259 while 165 were reported in 2016

Breitbart Texas previously reported on the ongoing violence attributed by officials to the cartel wars over the disputed lucrative drug markets between CJNG, Los Zetas, Gulf, and independent groups loyal to the Sinaloa Cartel.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.)